Using Twilio with NetSuite OpenAir for Alerts

Alerts are a great way to remind your users of different tasks that must be completed. However, they are only effective when those users see them. In NetSuite’s OpenAir, alerts are apparent – if you log in.

To address the gap between in-app alerting and prompting users that don’t log in often to complete tasks, OpenAir created the ability to send email alerts to team members. Unfortunately, it’s a fact of the modern world that our inboxes are – for the most part – overflowing with messages demanding our attention. These OpenAir notifications can be easily missed in the tidal wave of mail.

Integrations that allow alerts to be sent to communications platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams can be more useful. Still again, these messages require that a user be logged into the messaging platform and pay attention to it.

There is one communication method that almost everyone has access to all of the time, which is rarely ignored, and that is our mobile phones. Text alerts are nearly always seen and in close to real-time.

The catch with text messaging your OpenAir users is that there is no built-in integration that allows this. However, the power of OpenAir is extensibility. As one of our clients discovered when trying to solve the alerting problem for timesheet compliance, an application called Twilio can carry the alert to users. The challenge for them was getting OpenAir to talk to Twilio – that’s where Top Step was able to help, developing an integration script that enables OpenAir to send alerts through the Twilio API.

The Use Case for Twilio

Timesheet compliance is a universal challenge for professional services organizations, and our customer was no different. They were looking for a way to alert team members that they needed to submit their timesheets, but OpenAir alerts and those sent to their email weren’t having the desired impact.

On the suggestion of an employee, the company began to look at Twilio for sending texts to those needing to submit their timesheets. They were having some challenges getting the integration to work, and Top Step had done some custom development for them in the past, so they contacted our team for a proof of concept.

Top Step developed an integration that accomplishes what they needed. The application filters on those users that are required to submit a timesheet but haven’t yet done so. It then looks up the names and mobile phone numbers of those team members. Then, the integration engages Twilio to deliver a text reminder.

Even better, this method of alerting is economical. Twilio accommodates those who send out few messages, despite being developed for mass texting. This means that Twilio costs just pennies per text message for the OpenAir alerts.

Additional Uses for the OpenAir to Twilio Script Integration

While timesheet alerting is an obvious use for the Twilio integration, it’s not the only communication that can leverage texts to notify your team of something within your PSA that needs attention. This isn’t a comprehensive list of potential use cases, but it’s intended to get you thinking about how alerts from OpenAir with a Twilio integration might streamline your own workflows:

• • Timesheet submission: Alerting that a timesheet is overdue is just the tip of the iceberg. The list of those needing to be notified could be filtered further, or the frequency of the checks and notifications could be customized.
  • Timesheet approvals: Just as timesheets need to be submitted in a timely manner, so do approvals. Twilio could alert managers or PMs that a timesheet is waiting to be reviewed and approved.
  • Expense reports and approvals: Expense reports can be another sticking point when it comes to compliance. Notifying users that their reports are due or managers that there are expenses needing approval can streamline the workflow and your cash flow.
  • Project management communication: There is any number of ways that Twilio can be used to alert PMs that something within your PSA needs attention. This could include when a project moves from one status to another, when a project is put on hold, or when the health of a project changes.

Things to Consider When Integrating Twilio and OpenAir

If an integration between Twilio and OpenAir sounds like a good solution for your alert system, there are a few things that you should consider before jumping into implementation.

First, the current usage for the integration is for texts sent one at a time. It may be possible to text multiple users at once through the integration, and Top Step would be happy to discuss a proof of concept for your organization for this type of script.

It’s also worth noting OpenAir’s API calls have limitations. OpenAir only allows an instance to make a certain number of API calls over a period of time. In truth, the limit is fairly high, and it’s unlikely that any of the mentioned use cases would come close to the API limit. However, knowing that there is an API call limit with OpenAir could be an important design consideration, depending on what you’ll be using the script for.

Conclusion

Timesheet compliance is an important part of running a professional services organization. It impacts reporting and even revenue realization. Having a reliable means of reminding users to complete and submit these records is critical to accurate project management, billing, and reporting. Twilio can help with this task, but there are so many other alerts that it can support, as well.

If you’re interested in discussing how the Twilio script integration with OpenAir can work for an alerting need that your organization has, contact us. We’d be happy to discuss with you the customization of our existing script to ensure you’re getting exactly the functionality you need and want for your PSA.